[Federal Register Volume 77, Number 116 (Friday, June 15, 2012)]
[Notices]
[Pages 36017-36018]
From the Federal Register Online via the Government Printing Office [www.gpo.gov]
[FR Doc No: 2012-14680]
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NUCLEAR REGULATORY COMMISSION
[NRC-2012-0139]
Regulatory Guide 7.3, Procedures for Picking Up and Receiving
Packages of Radioactive Material
AGENCY: Nuclear Regulatory Commission.
ACTION: Notice of withdrawal.
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SUMMARY: The U.S. Nuclear Regulatory Commission (NRC or Commission) is
withdrawing Regulatory Guide (RG) 7.3, ``Procedures for Picking Up and
Receiving Packages of Radioactive Material.'' The guide is being
withdrawn because it is obsolete and new guidance has been included in
Revision 1 of RG 7.7, ``Administrative Guide for Verifying Compliance
with Packaging Requirements for Shipment and Receipt of Radioactive
Material'' which was issued in March 2012 and announced in the Federal
Register (77 FR 18871; March 28, 2012).
ADDRESSES: Please refer to Docket ID NRC-2012-0139 when contacting the
NRC about the availability of information on this document. You may
access information related to this document, which the NRC possesses
and are publicly available, using the following methods:
NRC's Agencywide Documents Access and Management System
(ADAMS): Publicly available documents created or received at the NRC
are available online in the NRC Library at http://www.nrc.gov/reading-rm/adams.html. To begin search, select ``ADAMS Public Documents'' and
then select ``Begin Web-based ADAMS Search.'' For problems with ADAMS,
please contact the NRC's Public Document Room (PDR) reference staff at
1-800-397-4209, or 301-415-4737, or by email at PDR.Resource@nrc.gov.
The ADAMS accession number for each document referenced in this notice
(if that document is available in ADAMS) is provided the first time
that a document is referenced. The review for the withdrawal of RG 7.3
is available in ADAMS under Accession No. ML120900195.
NRC's PDR: You may examine and purchase copies of public
documents at the NRC's PDR, Room O1-F21, One White Flint North, 11555
Rockville Pike, Rockville, MD 20852.
The documents are not copyrighted and NRC approval is not required
to reproduce them.
FOR FURTHER INFORMATION CONTACT: Bernard White, Office of Nuclear
Material Safety and Safeguards, Division of Spent Fuel Storage and
Transportation, U.S. Nuclear Regulatory Commission, Washington DC
20555-0001, telephone: 301-492-3303; or by email at
Bernard.White@nrc.gov.
SUPPLEMENTARY INFORMATION:
I. Introduction
The NRC is withdrawing RG 7.3 because its guidance has been
superseded and is no longer needed. The guide was published in May 1975
to provide guidance on meeting the requirements in Title 10 of the Code
of Federal Regulations (10 CFR) 20.205, ``Procedures for Picking Up,
Receiving, and Opening Packages.'' Regulatory Guide 7.3 provided
guidance to licensees on making arrangements for receipt, pickup, and
monitoring of packages containing radioactive material; and reporting
when received packages showed evidence of leakage or excessive
radiation levels. The NRC is withdrawing this regulatory guide because
the information it contained has been combined into Revision 1 of RG
7.7, ``Administrative Guide for Verifying Compliance with Packaging
Requirements for Shipment and Receipt of Radioactive Material.''
Revision 1 of RG 7.7 was finalized in March 2012 and announced in the
Federal Register (77 FR 18871; March 28, 2012).
Regulatory Guide 7.3 was issued as part of an immediately effective
rule making by the Atomic Energy Commission (AEC) in 1974. The rule
making was issued in response to two incidents that resulted in
excessive contamination and radiation exposures from improperly
packaged radioactive material. Since these requirements were new to the
transportation community, the AEC developed RG 7.3 to provide licensees
with guidance and describe a method for meeting the new requirements
that the NRC staff found acceptable. In the 37 years since RG 7.3 was
issued, the transportation community has gained extensive experience on
transporting, receiving and opening packages containing radioactive
material. The regulations have been updated several times, but RG has
not been kept current.
[[Page 36018]]
II. Further Information
The withdrawal of RG 7.3 does not alter any prior or existing
licensing commitments based on its use. The guidance provided in this
RG is no longer necessary. Regulatory guides may be withdrawn when
their guidance no longer provides useful information, or is superseded
by technological innovations, congressional actions, or other events.
Regulatory guides are revised for a variety of reasons and the
withdrawal of an RG should be thought of as the final revision of the
guide. Although an RG is withdrawn, current licensees may continue to
use it, and withdrawal does not affect any existing licenses or
agreements. Withdrawal of a guide means that the guide should not be
used for future NRC licensing activities. However, although a
regulatory guide is withdrawn, changes to existing licenses can be
accomplished using other regulatory products.
Regulatory guides and publicly available NRC documents are
available on line in the NRC Library at: http://www.nrc.gov/reading-rm/doc-collections/. The documents can also be viewed online for free or
printed for a fee in the NRC's PDR at 11555 Rockville Pike, Rockville,
MD; the mailing address is USNRC PDR, Washington, DC 20555-0001;
telephone: 301-415-4737, or 1-800-397-4209; fax 301-415-3548; or by
email to pdr.resource@nrc.gov. Regulatory guides are not copyrighted,
and NRC approval is not required to reproduce them.
Dated at Rockville, Maryland, this 7th day of June, 2012.
For the Nuclear Regulatory Commission.
Thomas H. Boyce,
Branch Chief, Regulatory Guide Development Branch, Division of
Engineering, Office of Nuclear Regulatory Research.
[FR Doc. 2012-14680 Filed 6-14-12; 8:45 am]
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